First Place Rox Fall in Series Finale to Rochester

St. Cloud Rox exchange hugs as the season nears its close(St. Cloud Rox)

St. Cloud, MN - St. Cloud (41-27) closed the regular season at the Rock Pile on Friday, dropping a close 8-4 game to Rochester (37-33). With Mankato's loss to Willmar, the Rox magic number to clinch a playoff berth is two games.

In the fifth inning, Ben Carew (Kent State) delivered with a clutch base hit. He crushed a ground ball up the middle that was stopped by the shortstop, but his throw was low and caused an error by the first baseman. He was credited with an RBI, scoring Freddy Achecar (Georgetown) from third base and Parker Smejkal (Nebraska-Omaha) from second base on an error.

Down 8-2 in the eighth inning, Garett Delano (Brown) scored Lenny Walker (St. Cloud State) on a sac-fly to right field. On the same play, the right fielder threw to the cutoff in the infield, who tried to throw out Carew at third base. The throw got away from the third baseman, allowing Carew to score on an error.

Nick Desalvo (LIU-Brooklyn) started the game and tossed 3.1 innings. JT Barnes (Hardin-Simmons), Rhyse Dee (Wake Forest), Daniel Montgomery Jr. (Southwesterrn) and Hance Smith (California-Berkeley) all saw time out of the bullpen.

For the full box score from game Friday's game, click here.

St. Cloud now opens a three-game road series with Thunder Bay. The Rox will play a doubleheader at Port Arthur Stadium at 4:30 and 6:30 on Saturday. Two wins against the Border Cats would clinch the second half title of the Great Plains West Division.

All single games tickets can be purchased in person at the Rox Ticket Office located at the Municipal Athletic Complex, by calling the Rox Ticket office at 320-240-9798 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday or 24 hours a day by visiting www.stcloudrox.com.